New plasmon-like mode in PdTe$_{2}$: Raman scattering and memory function study

Bharathiganesh Devanarayanan, Sahil Rathi, Jalaja Pandya, Sonika, C. S. Yadav, Navinder Singh, Satyendra Nath Gupta

Published 2025-06-26Version 1

PdTe$_2$ is a type II Dirac semimetal that has garnered significant attention due to its intriguing electronic and topological properties. Here, we report temperature dependent Raman scattering study of PdTe$_2$ in the temperature range from 10 K to 300 K. Our study reveals emergence of a new unreported peak below 100 K, centered around 250 cm$^{-1}$. We argue that the new mode is not a phonon mode because the Raman spectra calculated using Density Functional Theory shows only two intense peaks at 85 $ cm^{-1}$ and 128 $cm^{-1}$. To ascertain the origin of this new peak, we constructed a microscopic model of electrons coupling to a single plasmon mode at 250 $cm^{-1}$ and using the memory function formalism, we obtained that the Raman relaxation rate is linear in frequency. We also performed phenomenological analysis of the Raman response from the experimental data and computed frequency dependent Raman relaxation rate, which is also found to exhibit a linear dependence on frequency. With the congruence of our theoretical and phenomenological results we could ascertain that the new mode observed at low temperatures is indeed a plasmon-like mode. Further, phonon frequencies and line widths of the two phonon modes exhibit anomalous behavior above 100 K.